EL84 amp Vs. EL34 amp

EL84 is purer, SET like sound, less power, for me, more musical. Clearer.
EL34 is lush, more warm, more power.
Depending on the make and model, they can vary quite a bit.
But in general those are the characters i listed above.
Personally, in the end, i prefer the purer tone of the EL84s.

I think Nolitan has captured the generalizations precisely. But do remember that the ciruit can influence those difference quite a bit. I have an EL84 and EL34 amp from the same manufacturer, in his circuit the EL34 sounds more like the typical EL84 sound, as described above, but with 162 watts to drive most any speaker.

Based on the amps I own and others I have listened to, I'd describe the 34 as a more midrangy kind of tube and the 84 as having more extension as well as having more speed. It's almost like a 300b/2a3 comparison.

I agree.

Thank you all for your posts. Please keep them coming :)

Its been about 15 years since I owned any EL34 amps (a cj MV50, Music Reference RM9 & AMC CVT3030 int) and probably about 3-4 years since I actually heard an EL34 amp.

Unfortunately, the EL34 amps that I owned at that time were kept for only a few months as I was going thru a transitionary stage and evaluating a lot of different gear at the time.

Ever since I got rid of my Omega Grande 8's about 2 years ago and with this economy, I've been on a hunt for the best sounding speakers I can find for under $200 and have gone thru about a dozen pairs of speakers since then. The idea of getting an EL34 amp and more power is to widen the field of possible speaker choices. From the responses so far, perhaps the EL84 (6bq5) may better suit my tastes, although it limits speaker choices somewhat.